The present invention relates generally to systems for improving sanitation in toilet facilities, and more particularly, for encouraging good personal hygiene by users of toilet facilities.
A pervasive cause of gastrointestinal illness is contamination of food by fecal microorganisms. A major source of such contamination is inadequate cleansing of the hands of food preparation personnel after the use of toilet facilities. Public health authorities regularly encourage institutional food service providers to admonish their employees to adhere to accepted sanitation procedures. In particular, food handlers are expected to thoroughly cleanse their hands after using the toilet. To achieve that end, training sessions and warning signs are used to educate employees about the dangers of inadequate cleansing, and to instill in them the habit of careful hand washing.
Similarly, in the home, children must be educated in the necessity of washing their hands to avoid the spread of gastrointestinal illness in the family. Having succeeded in toilet training their children, parents are then faced with the challenge of further educating them in personal cleanliness, something of which children are usually blissfully unaware. No matter how frequently children are cautioned about hand washing, they are often so anxious to return to their play that they forget about their parents"" admonitions and rush to resume their activities, sans ablutions.
Solutions to these problems have been proposed, with marginal success. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,520 recites as one object to train children to wash their hands after using the toilet, accomplished by providing an annunciator triggered by a motion detector or a switch actuated by the toilet flush lever, whereupon a suitable recorded message is played admonishing the child to wash his or her hands. Such triggering means are less than satisfactory. In the case of a motion sensor, the annunciator is activated by motion not associated with toilet use, resulting in needless repetition of the message, and loss of effectiveness. In the case of a lever-actuated switch, the switch must be coupled to the lever, requiring mechanical modification of the toilet and unwanted expense.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a system for automatically encouraging the practice of good hygiene in the use of toilet facilities, both by children and adults, in the furtherance of public health.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a system for encouraging the practice of good hygiene, wherein after use of a toilet the user is reminded by a recorded message to thoroughly cleanse his or her hands before leaving the toilet facility. The message is suitably tailored to fit the circumstances. For example, in the home, the message preferably is recorded by a parent, and also may be addressed by name to a particular child. In a restaurant, the message may be recorded by the restaurant manager, whose voice will be recognized by the restaurant employees and, presumably, made more authoritative. In both cases, a recorded message may be accorded greater credibility by the user, especially compared to the use of printed signs or notices posted in the vicinity.
These ends are achieved by the provision of a recorded message and an annunciator which are activated by the sound generated by the flow of water into the toilet bowl when the toilet is flushed. In general, the system of the present invention comprises a microphone positioned so as to intercept the sound generated by the flushing toilet, an amplifier, a controller, a voice chip or other audio storage means, and a speaker.